Electronic device having opaque layer with opening for light transmission

This application claims the priority benefit of China application serial no. 202210051285.6, filed on Jan. 17, 2022. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

The disclosure relates to an electronic device.

Existing electronic devices incorporate a sensing module therein to provide an identity recognition (e.g. fingerprint sensing) function. However, the current practice requires additional fabrication of the optical structures corresponding to the sensing modules, resulting in increased manufacturing processes.

The disclosure provides an electronic device with a relatively simplified manufacturing process.

According to the embodiments of the disclosure, an electronic device includes a circuit substrate, an inorganic light emitting unit, and an opaque layer. The circuit substrate includes an optical sensor. The inorganic light emitting unit is disposed on the circuit substrate and configured to emit a light. The opaque layer is disposed on the circuit substrate, including a first opening through which a portion of the light is transmitted to the optical sensor.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the disclosure more obvious and easy to understand, the following embodiments are given and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows.

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

Certain terms are used throughout the specification and appended claims of the disclosure, to refer to specific components. As those skilled in the art will understand, electronic device manufacturers may refer to the same components by different names. The disclosure does not intend to distinguish between components that have the same function but different names. In the following specification and claims, terms such as “including”, “containing”, and “having” are open-ended terms, so should be interpreted as meaning “including but not limited to . . . .”.

The directional terms mentioned in the disclosure, for example: “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right” and like are only directions with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used are for illustration, but not to limit the disclosure. In the drawings, each drawing shows the general features of the methods, structures and/or materials adopted in specific embodiments, but should not be construed as defining or limiting the scope or nature covered by the embodiments. For example, for clarity, the relative size, thickness, and position of each layer, region, and/or structure may be reduced or enlarged.

When a structure (or layer, component, substrate) is referred to as being located “on/above” another structure (or layer, component, substrate) in the disclosure, it may refer to the two structures being adjacent and directly connected, or it may mean that the two structures are adjacent but not directly connected. “Indirect connection” means that there is at least one intermediary structure (or intermediary layer, intermediary component, intermediary substrate, intermediary space) between the two structures, in which the lower surface of a structure is adjacent to or directly connected to the upper surface of the intermediary structure, and the upper surface of the other structure is adjacent to or directly connected to the lower surface of the intermediary structure. The intermediary structure may be a single-layer or multi-layer physical structure or non-physical structure, with no limit. In the disclosure, when a structure is disposed “on” another structure, it may mean that the structure is “directly” on another structure, or that the structure is “indirectly” on another structure, with at least one structure sandwiched between the two structures.

The terms “about”, “equal to”, “equivalent”, “same”, “substantially” or “approximately” are generally interpreted as being within 20% of a given value or range, or interpreted as being within 10%, 5%, 3%, 2%, 1%, or 0.5% of a given value or range.

Ordinal numbers such as “first”, “second”, and the like recited in the specification and claims are used to qualify components, and do not imply or represent that the component (or components) is/are preceded with any ordinal numbers, nor do they represent the order of one component with respect to another component, or the order of the manufacturing method. The ordinal numbers are used only to clearly distinguish a component with a certain name from another component with the same name. Different terms may be used in the claims and the specification, whereby a first component in the specification may be a second component in a claim.

The “electrical connection” or “coupling” described in the disclosure may refer to direct connection or indirect connection. In the case of direct connection, the endpoints of the components on the two circuits are directly connected or connected to each other by a conductor segment; in the case of indirect connection, the endpoints of the components on the two circuits may be provided therebetween with switch, diode, capacitor, inductor, resistor, other suitable components, or a combination thereof, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In the disclosure, thickness, length, and width can be measured by an optical microscope, and the thickness or width can be measured by a cross-sectional image in an electron microscope, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. Moreover, any two values or directions used for comparison may have a certain amount of error. In addition, the terms “equal to,” “equivalent,” “same,” “substantially,” or “approximately” as used throughout the disclosure generally mean that they fall within 10% of a given value or range. Furthermore, the terms “a given range is from a first value to a second value”, and “a given range is within a range from the first value to the second value” indicate that the given range includes the first value, the second value, and other values in between. If the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, the angle between the first direction and the second direction may be between 80 degrees and 100 degrees; if the first direction is parallel to the second direction, the angle between the first direction and the second direction may be between 0 degrees and 10 degrees.

It is important to note that the following embodiments may, without departing from the spirit of the disclosure, replace, reorganize, and mix features of several different embodiments to complete other embodiments. The features between various embodiments can be mixed and matched arbitrarily as long as they do not violate the spirit of the invention or conflict with each other.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure belongs. It is understood that these terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having meanings consistent with the relevant art and the background or context of the disclosure, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal way, unless otherwise defined in the embodiments of the disclosure.

The electronic device disclosed in the specification may include a display device, a backlight device, an antenna device, a sensing device or a tiled device, but is not limited thereto. The electronic device may be a bendable or flexible electronic device. The display device may be a non-self-luminous display device or a self-luminous display device. The antenna device may be a liquid crystal antenna device or a non-liquid crystal antenna device, and the sensing device may be a sensing device for sensing capacitance, light, heat or ultrasonic waves, but is not limited thereto. In the disclosure, the electronic components may include passive components and active components, such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, diodes, transistors, and the like. The diodes may include light emitting diodes or photodiodes. The light emitting diodes may include, for example, organic light emitting diodes (OLED), sub-millimeter light emitting diodes (mini LED), micro light emitting diodes (micro LED), or quantum dot light emitting diodes (quantum dot LED), but is not limited thereto. The tiled device may be, for example, a display tiled device or an antenna tiled device, but is not limited thereto. It should be noted that the electronic device may be any arrangement and combination of the foregoing, but not limited to thereto. The display device is used as the electronic device or the tiled device to illustrate the disclosure hereinafter, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

It should be noted that the technical solutions provided by the different embodiments hereinafter can be replaced, combined, or mixed, so as to constitute another embodiment without violating the spirit of the disclosure.

,,,, andare partial cross-sectional schematic views of electronic devices according to some embodiments of the disclosure, respectively.is a partial top schematic view of the electronic device of.is a partial top schematic view of the electronic device in; for a section line I-I′ in, refer to a region RI in.is a partial top schematic view of the electronic device in; for a section line II-II′ in, refer to a region RII in.

Referring to, an electronic devicemay include a circuit substrate, an inorganic light emitting unit, and an opaque layer. The circuit substrateincludes an optical sensor. The inorganic light emitting unitis disposed on the circuit substrateand configured to emit a light B. The opaque layeris disposed on the circuit substrateand includes a first opening A. A portion of the light B (e.g. a light B′) is transmitted to the optical sensorthrough the first opening A. In the disclosure, the inorganic light emitting unitcan be replaced with any one or a combination of the aforementioned electronic components.

In detail, the circuit substratemay include a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) backplane in which semiconductor components are formed by doping on a semiconductor substrate, or a TFT backplane on which thin film transistors (TFT) are fabricated by a thin film process, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Taking a CMOS backplane as an example, the circuit substratemay include a semiconductor substrate, and the optical sensormay be embedded in the semiconductor substrate. The material of the semiconductor substratemay include semiconductor materials such as monocrystalline crystal silicon, polycrystalline silicon, silicon carbide, gallium nitride or germanium. Embedding the optical sensorin the semiconductor substraterefers to forming a photosensitive semiconductor component that may sense light in the semiconductor substratethrough an ion implantation process.

In some embodiments, as shown in, the semiconductor substratemay include an N-type silicon substrate SUB. In the N-type silicon substrate SUB, a P-type doped region PR may be formed through an ion implantation process, and the optical sensormay include a photodiode composed of the P-type doped region PR and a portion of the N-type silicon substrate SUB, but the types of the optical sensorare not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the optical sensormay be a photo-transistor, a metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector (MSM photo-detector), or a camera, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In addition to the P-type doped region PR, the N-type silicon substrate SUB may also be formed with a source region SR and a drain region DR through an ion implantation process.schematically illustrates one P-type doped region PR, two source regions SR and two drain regions DR, but the respective numbers of the P-type doped regions PR, the source regions SR and the drain regions DR in the circuit substrateor the relative arrangement relationship of the above components may be changed according to requirements, and are not limited to those shown in.

According to different requirements, the circuit substratemay include other film layers. For example, the circuit substratemay further include a dielectric layer, a conductive layer, a dielectric layer, a conductive layer, a dielectric layer, a conductive layer, and a conductive layer, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

The dielectric layeris disposed on the semiconductor substrateand covers the P-type doped region PR, the source regions SR, and the drain regions DR. The material of the dielectric layermay include inorganic materials, such as, but not limited to, silicon oxide (SiO) or silicon nitride (SiN).

The conductive layeris disposed on the dielectric layer. The material of the conductive layermay include metal or metal stacks such as aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, or a combination thereof, but is not limited thereto. The conductive layermay be a patterned conductive layer, and the conductive layermay include a gate electrode GE, an anode AE, and other circuits (not shown), but is not limited thereto. The anode AE may electrically connect the P-type doped region PR and the adjacent drain region DR through the through hole THpenetrating the dielectric layer.

The dielectric layeris disposed on the dielectric layerand covers the conductive layer. The material of the dielectric layermay include inorganic materials, such as, but not limited to, silicon oxide or silicon nitride.

The conductive layeris disposed on the dielectric layer. The material of the conductive layermay include metal or metal stacks, such as, but not limited, aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, or a combination thereof. The conductive layermay be a patterned conductive layer, and the conductive layermay include a source electrode SE, a drain electrode DE, a common electrode ME, and other circuits (not shown), but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The source electrode SE may be electrically connected to the corresponding source region SR through a through hole THpenetrating the dielectric layerand the dielectric layer. The drain electrode DE may be electrically connected to the corresponding drain region DR through the corresponding through hole TH.

The dielectric layeris disposed on the dielectric layerand covers the conductive layer. The material of the dielectric layermay include inorganic materials, such as, but not limited to, silicon oxide or silicon nitride.

The conductive layeris disposed on the dielectric layer. The material of the conductive layermay include metal or metal stacks, such as, but not limited to, aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, or a combination thereof. The conductive layermay be a patterned conductive layer, and the conductive layermay include a pad P, a pad P, and other circuits (not shown), but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The pad Pmay be electrically connected to the corresponding drain electrodes DE through a through hole THpenetrating the dielectric layer. The pad Pmay be electrically connected to the corresponding common electrode ME through the corresponding through hole TH.

The conductive layeris disposed on the surface of the semiconductor substrateaway from the P-type doped region PR. The material of the conductive layermay include metal or metal stacks, such as, but not limited to, aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, or a combination thereof. The conductive layermay be a patterned conductive layer, and the conductive layermay include a cathode CE. The cathode CE is located, for example, below the P-type doped region PR.

The inorganic light emitting unitmay be bonded to the pad Pand the pad Pthrough a conductive member C, for example. The conductive member C may include solder, anisotropic conductive film (ACF), anisotropic conductive paste (ACP), or other conductive bonding members. The inorganic light emitting unitmay include a sub-millimeter light emitting diode (mini LED), a micro light emitting diode (micro LED), or a quantum dot light emitting diode (quantum dot LED), but is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the inorganic light emitting unitmay be a light emitting diode chip, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the inorganic light emitting unitmay be a light emitting diode package.

The opaque layeris disposed on the dielectric layerand may partially cover the pad Pand the pad P, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The transmittance of the opaque layerto the light B is, for example, less than 50%. For example, the light source and the illuminometer may be disposed on opposite sides of the electronic device to measure the transmittance of the opaque layer. Transmittance is defined as the light intensity received by the illuminometer divided by the light intensity output by the light source.

In some embodiments, the material of the opaque layermay include black resin, white resin, or gray resin, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, a metal layer in the circuit substratemay serve as the opaque layer. The sidewall of the opaque layermay be disposed with metal materials to improve reflectivity.

The first opening Aof the opaque layeris disposed corresponding to the optical sensor. In some embodiments, the first opening Aat least partially overlaps with the optical sensorin a top view direction (e.g. direction Z) of the electronic device, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the first opening Amay not need to overlap with the optical sensorin a top view direction (e.g. the direction Z) of the electronic device. The first opening Aallows part of the light B (e.g. the light B′ reflected by the object to be measured) to be transmitted to the optical sensor, and the first opening Amay also filter stray light to reduce the probability of the optical sensorreceiving stray light.

In some embodiments, the opaque layermay further include a second opening A. The second opening Aexposes the pad Pand the pad P, and the inorganic light emitting unitmay be disposed in the second opening A.

According to different requirements, the electronic devicemay also include other components or film layers. For example, the electronic devicemay further include a light-transmitting layer. The light-transmitting layerfills the first opening Aand the second opening A. The material of the light-transmitting layermay include organic materials, inorganic materials, or bonding materials, but is not limited thereto. The organic material may include polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), epoxy, acrylic-based resin, silicone, polyimide polymer, or a combination thereof, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The inorganic material may include, but not limited to, silicon oxide or silicon nitride. The bonding material may include, but not limited to, optical clear adhesive (OCA) or optical clear resin (OCR). The light-transmitting layermay be formed by stacking multiple layers of materials, and the light-transmitting layermay be a color resist material through which light of a specific wavelength band may pass.

By incorporating the optical sensorin the circuit substrateand forming the first opening Afor allowing light to pass through and the second opening Afor accommodating the inorganic light emitting unitin the opaque layer, there is no need to additionally fabricate an optical structure (such as a light-shielding structure or a light-collimating structure) corresponding to the sensing module (the optical sensor), and thus a relatively simplified manufacturing process can be achieved.

In some embodiments, the electronic devicemay provide an identity recognition function, such as a fingerprint sensing function; that is, the optical sensoris configured to sense the fingerprint F, but it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the optical sensormay be configured to sense palm prints or other biometric features.

Referring to, the main differences between an electronic deviceA and the electronic deviceofare as follows. In the electronic deviceA, a circuit substrateA is, for example, a TFT backplane, and the circuit substrateA further includes a substrateA. The optical sensoris disposed on the substrateA.

In detail, the substrateA may include a flexible substrate or a rigid substrate. The material of the substrateA may include, but not limited to, glass, plastic, ceramic, quartz, sapphire, or a combination of the above materials. The optical sensormay be formed on the substrateA through a thin film process.

In some embodiments, the circuit substrateA may further include a buffer layer, a buffer layer, a semiconductor layer, a dielectric layer, a conductive layer, a dielectric layer, a dielectric layer, a conductive layer, a dielectric layer, a conductive layer, a dielectric layer, and a conductive layerA, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. According to different requirements, one or more components or layers may be added in or subtracted from the circuit substrateA.

The buffer layerand the buffer layerare sequentially disposed on the substrateA. For example, the materials of the buffer layerand the buffer layermay include inorganic materials, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride or aluminum oxide, or include organic materials, such as perfluoroalkoxy alkane (PFA), but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

The semiconductor layeris disposed on the buffer layer. For example, the material of the semiconductor layerincludes an oxide semiconductor material, such as Indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the material of the semiconductor layermay include amorphous silicon, polysilicon, or metal oxide. The semiconductor layeris, for example, a patterned semiconductor layer and may include a plurality of semiconductor patternsP. The semiconductor patternP may include a channel region CH, the source region SR, and the drain region DR, wherein the channel region CH is located between the source region SR and the drain region DR.

The dielectric layeris disposed on the dielectric layerand covers the semiconductor layer. For example, the material of the dielectric layermay include inorganic materials, such as, but not limited to, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, or aluminum oxide, or include organic materials, such as perfluoroalkoxy alkane (PFA).

The conductive layeris disposed on the dielectric layer. The material of the conductive layermay include metal or metal stacks, such as, but not limited to, aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, or a combination thereof. The conductive layermay be a patterned conductive layer, and the conductive layermay include the gate electrode GE and other circuits (not shown), but is not limited thereto. The gate electrode GE is disposed on the channel region CH, and the gate electrode GE overlaps the channel region CH in the direction Z.

The dielectric layerand the dielectric layerare sequentially disposed on the dielectric layerand cover the conductive layer. The material of the dielectric layermay include inorganic materials, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride or aluminum oxide, or include organic materials, such as perfluoroalkoxy alkane (PFA), but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

The conductive layeris disposed on the dielectric layer. The material of the conductive layermay include metal or a metal stacks, such as, but not limited to, aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, or a combination thereof. The conductive layermay be a patterned conductive layer, and the conductive layermay include the source electrode SE, the drain electrode DE and other circuits (not shown), but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The source electrode SE may be electrically connected to the corresponding source region SR through a through hole THpenetrating the dielectric layer, the dielectric layer, and the dielectric layer. The drain electrode DE may be electrically connected to the corresponding drain region DR through the corresponding through hole TH.

The dielectric layeris disposed on the dielectric layerand covers the conductive layer. The material of the dielectric layermay include inorganic materials, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride or aluminum oxide, or include organic materials, such as perfluoroalkoxy alkane (PFA), but the disclosure is not limited thereto.